Supporting better inclusion for people with disabilities and the victims of conflict in Gaza:
by Pauline Thivilliver and John McGeachy from Humanity and Inclusion (HI)

People with disabilities are often excluded from humanitarian responses and the talk will include support for victims of the 2014 Israeli offensive, recent work to better equip NGOs and others in Gaza to better include people with disabilities.

The story of Pietro Stefanini, a British citizen living in refugee camps in Lebanon, hosted by a Palestinian family, through whom he will learn about the situation of refugees and how their political and economic life is strongly connected and about their relationship with Lebanese authorities.

an Iraqi Jew born in India and settled in the UK, has been an architect, writer, and peace activist since the 1960s. He is a founder member of Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine, (APJP) which campaigns against the building of the illegal settlements and the Apartheid Wall, and the projects that dispossess the Palestinians under Occupation and within Israel itself.

The Architecture of Occupation

How Architecture is used to define and alter the geography of East Jerusalem & the Occupied Palestinian Territories, to make civilian habitation suit a military and nationalistic agenda.

Israeli architects and planners involved in projects that appropriate land and natural resources from Palestinian territory are complicit in social, political and economic oppression. Their practice of architecture is based on the displacement of Palestinians, and against professional ethical codes, international & humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.

The relentless expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, the ethnic cleansing of Bedouin from their unrecognized villages in the Negev within Israel and in the occupied West bank are considered as war crimes, and spell the end of the ‘two-state solution.’

Merton PSC will be holding its regular monthly public meeting on Wednesday 1st August 2018 at The William Morris Meeting Room. Following last month’s meeting, the final two episodes of the documentary film, “The Lobby” produced for current affairs channel, Al Jazeera, will be shown, as well as an update on our campaigns, donations and future events.

“The Lobby,” is based on a six-month undercover investigation examining the role of the Israel lobby in British politics. We will be screening episodes three and four, each approximately 26 minutes in duration. Episode One investigates whether accusations of antisemitism are being used to stifle political debate. Episode Two exposes an official from the Israeli embassy in London and his involvement in a potential plot to ‘take down’ British politicians.

Merton PSC will be holding its regular monthly public meeting on Wednesday 4th July 2018 at The William Morris Meeting Room. The first two episodes of the documentary film, “The Lobby” produced for current affairs channel, Al Jazeera, will be shown, as well as an update on our campaigns, donations and future events.

“The Lobby,” is based on a six-month undercover investigation examining the role of the Israel lobby in British politics. We will be screening episodes one and two, each approximately 25 minutes in duration. Episode One reveals how pro-Israel groups are trying to influence Britain’s youth. Episode Two follows an undercover reporter who joins a delegation from the Israeli embassy at last year’s Labour Party Conference.

Members and friends of Merton PSC attended an emergency protest held outside Downing Street, London, on the evening of Tuesday 15 May 2018, against the massacre in Gaza by Israeli forces. The emergency protest was called by: Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Stop the War Coalition, Olive, Europal Forum and was part of nationwide protests, with multiple protests occurring within London.

On 14 May 2018, Israel opened fire on protesters in Gaza, killing over 60 people and injuring some 2,400, many with serious wounds which will lead to lifelong disabilities. Amongst the dead, were at least 8 children, including an 8-month baby who was overcome by tear gas inhalation.

The Gazans’ “Great March of Return” border protest, which started on 30 March 2018, was planned to culminate on 15 May or Nakba (Catastrophe) Day, to mark 15 May 1948, 70 years ago, when Israel declared itself an independent state following the formal withdrawal of Britain, accelerating the expulsion and fleeing of 750,000 Palestinians from their homes.

14 May 2018, the day before Nakba Day, marked the formal move of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Gazans intensified their “Great March of Return” protest, which was overwhelmingly a non-violent protest. They were attacked with tear gas and live fire. Those Palestinians that did resist with force used stones, kites lit with fire and Molotov cocktails against a heavily militarised line of Israeli soldiers, including snipers and tear gas drones. Israeli forces reported one light injury to a soldier.

Read more about the 15 May 2018 ‘Gaza: Stop the Massacre London’ protests and other nationwide protests here.

Abdullah Abu Harbeed from Biet Hanoun, Gaza, pictured with his fiancee, Iman. Harbeed’s life-saving operation following injury by a bomb was supported by NHS surgeons working with charities MAP and IDEALS, 2014 [Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos for DFID]

Merton PSC will be holding its regular monthly public meeting on Wednesday 6th June 2018 at The William Morris Meeting Room.

We are delighted to welcome Dr Philippa Whitford MP (Central Ayrshire) to talk on “Health under the blockade in Gaza.” Philippa was a Consultant Breast Cancer Surgeon at Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock, for 19 years where she redesigned the service and established reconstructive breast surgery.

Philippa returned to Gaza in 2016 after a 25 year absence, under the auspices of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), to continue her breast cancer work. During the talk, she will be reporting on her visit, and discussing the changes that have taken place as a result of war and occupation.

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About us

We are a group of local activists working to build solidarity with the Palestinian people.

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